Lame cow...what would you suggest?

[dun]

ollie,

I had felt the same way, but the draining part is what would make me leery of wrapping the foot. You want that rotten spot to heal from the inside out.
But the usual disclaimer, I ain't no vet.

dun

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

You can also apply Ichthamal (a black gooey stinky substance) which is great to DRAW out infection.

 

[milkmaid]

Here's the pics...

I seriously doubt you can tell anything from them. LOL. She went out of the barn and stood in the snow, which didn't help for picture-taking. The spot just above the hoof is where is was draining at one time, but recently closed up. It wasn't the main drainage spot - that is underneath.

I felt between the hooves tonight, and I don't think the drainage is coming from the hoof wall. Unless you see something important in these pictures, I'm going to assume, like you all have already said a dozen times, that it is foot rot. So she'll go back on LA200, and maybe in the morning I can pick up one of those topical treatments that have been suggested.

Thanks again.

 

[dun]

The topicals will help, but you need to treat the systemic problem. If it's footrot, LA-200 is probably as good as any.
I spole to a feedlot vet recently that said a;thoug hthings like Nuflor and Micotil work well, they prefer to start with the more common drugs. If neiother Nuflor or Micotil work there isn;t anywhere to go. If the lesser druge, i.e. LA-200, penstrep etc do't work they still have the others to fall back on.

dun

 

[NY-JB]

hello there from what i know and i have done coming from a dairy farm is what dun had said dont sell her yet and if you did you would have to wait until the meds are out i am not sure how long pen. last but she has to be off it for 5 milking before she could go back in the line the vet would know this also what we do is if it is real bad you would no if it was hoof rott the smell is bad but most likely a wart a lot of dairy cows get them and it almost always comes back after time you can if experienced with any hoof work you can shave it down with a hand held hoof trimer but first tie her leg up in the air at a 90 degree angle to the floor she wont be able to kick you as bad over a rafter and press and you will find right where it is by the tenderness she will let you know then go from there with what dun says he knows what he is talking about and yes dairy farmers are cheap use some cotten and hoof wrap and leave it on untill it falls off or for two weeks it will probably fall off first another option is a hoof trimmer but the can run you a little more for just one cow

 

[NY-JB]

hello there from what i know and i have done coming from a dairy farm is what dun had said dont sell her yet and if you did you would have to wait until the meds are out i am not sure how long pen. last but she has to be off it for 5 milking before she could go back in the line the vet would know this also what we do is if it is real bad you would no if it was hoof rott the smell is bad but most likely a wart a lot of dairy cows get them and it almost always comes back after time you can if experienced with any hoof work you can shave it down with a hand held hoof trimer but first tie her leg up in the air at a 90 degree angle to the floor she wont be able to kick you as bad over a rafter and press and you will find right where it is by the tenderness she will let you know then go from there with what dun says he knows what he is talking about and yes dairy farmers are cheap use some cotten and hoof wrap and leave it on untill it falls off or for two weeks it will probably fall off first another option is a hoof trimmer but the can run you a little more for just one cow

 

[Beefy]

Well, crap. i had a nice long response all typed up and then WHAM! got the boot right in the fanny. Basically, it said:

Milkmaid-
That looks EXACTLY like the case i had last year except the cows foot actually cracked open right above the claw, almost as if she had torn the claw from the foot somehow. It had swollen up so much that we first suspected snake bite. Vet said it was footrot (my first case) and then we had two other cases after that although less severe. Treated them all with LA200 and it cleared them all up. The first cow looked a little worse than your case, had drainage but no obvious odor. she looks normal and is walking fine now, it just took some time for the swelling to go down and for her to walk normally again. the other cases started with a very obvious limp, with slight swelling on the backside of the back feet right above the hairline. LA200 knocked those out before they were much of a problem. Like Dun said though, i wouldnt wrap it, but then again i dont know beans about the price of tea in china.

 

[TheBullLady]

Well maybe it's just me, but I've never experienced a cow with hoof rot with the sore or opening on the top of the hoof. It's always been on the bottom or between the claw. ?

I bet she'll be fine given some time Milkmaid.. it actually looks more like an abcess that has traveled up and broken open above the hoof.

BTW.. DARLING avatar!

 

[TxSimbrahShower]

We had a commercial cow in the pasture do this very same thing back in August, limping, foot swollen, stinky smell, spot up on the side of the foot just like yours has that discharges puss. The vet said that it was hoof rot, (the first case of hoof rot ever on the place). Mom penned her, gave her large doses of LA 200, 3 times over a couple month period,put topical solution on foot, can't remember the name, it was purple in color, fed her sweet feed during the time that she was penned, had her in a three acre pasture that is actually what we call the baby nursery, she has since fully recovered, now she's back out in the pasture with the rest of the herd. I think we had her penned up for a couple of months. But, she's one of the best commercial cows that we have, so, the vet and feed bills will be recouped with her calf that she will have in March or April.

 

[jcissell]

My guess would be footrot too. I have a cow with footrot right now that I have to give a shot tomorrow. I have been waiting to get one since we have had all this wet weather. We just give them a shot of penicillian and in a few days to a week its gone. This summer we had about 5 or 6 that got in and all were gone within a week. Anything you can do to prevent footrot? I have heard to make sure they have plenty of minerals.

Josh

 

[buckaroo_bif]

I'm sorry Milkmaid my internet been down as well as electricity and about 5oo million tree limbs here in n-w Oklahoma. We had a bad ice storm here. I was speaking of sulfamethazine sustained release bolusus. They used to be very popular till all this newfangled medicine came around. They are better known as simple old scour pills but I have good luck with them for other problems too. I still used good old penicillin too quite often. I have better luck with long acting penicillin than other stuff I've tried. I wouldn't give two cents for mictotil. it's Worthless! Nuflor ain't bad and its worked on foot rot for me but still it's highly overrated. And overpriced! I have had excellent luck with A180 this year for respistory problems. I use it along with flunix 10 mgs each with a follow up on the second day.
bif
anybody else been using micotil out there? i gave up on it last year...
chaps my hiney it never did work cept for a few bad eyes after the snow last winter.

 

[milkmaid]

Thanks for the responses and stories - I'd be really happy if she could be completely sound once again. Glad to hear other cows have had this cleared up.

I'll let you folks know how she's doing after she's been treated a few times; hopefully I can say she's much better.

 

[Hawk]

anybody else been using micotil out there?

Yep, I use micotil from time to time and have had excellent results with it. It is expensive and you have to handle it carefully, but in the right situation it will work wonders. I buy it through my vet and administer it myself. Just my 2 cents worth.

 

[holistichoofcare]

ok if its hoof rot it will be broke open between the toes and most likely have puss and blood draining from it due to the fact this has been with her for 2 weeks if it is hoof rot it most likely has gotten into couglin joint and most likely is irreversible if it is broke open between the toes u can try applying a bandage first apply a liberal amount of ichthamol to the cotton then put another liberal amount of coppertox and or copper sulfate(copper based products seem to work 10000x better then any antibiotics such as tetracycline as a topical dressing in hoof rot) then bandage foot MAKE SURE the bandage is off within 3 days you are only doing more damage to the foot after that. Naxcel does seem to work on hoof rot if caught early enough which would solve the withhold problem If u decide to go the IV route use any of the OxyTet100'S Use 100ccs the first dose mix it in a bottle of dextrose then follow treatments at 60ccs 1x a day for 3-4 days Ive had alot of success with 20ccs of penicillin 2x a day
You may want to call a hoof trimmer dairy cattle prone to many hoof ailments such as abcesses and ulcers if u have any specific questions feel free to ask Im a proffesional hoof trimmer

 

[holistichoofcare]

looking at ur pictures it could be hoof rot that has blown out the top of the hoof but there will be a larger infection site between the toes in the soft tissue IF the puss is comming from the horn of the foot the actual hard tissue then its a abcess or ulcer that has blown out the hair line either way by the looks of the picture the couglin joint appears to be infected u can try Albon boluses along with any or all the treaments i listed above most likely its irreverisible unless its localized in one claw most likely the outside claw in which case u can have a vet apputate the claw

 

[SimmAngus]

If micotil does not clear it up, put wheels on her period. But use extreme caution not to nick yourself, you may/will die! Just IMHO........

 

[dun]

looking at ur pictures it could be hoof rot that has blown out the top of the hoof but there will be a larger infection site between the toes in the soft tissue IF the puss is comming from the horn of the foot the actual hard tissue then its a abcess or ulcer that has blown out the hair line either way by the looks of the picture the couglin joint appears to be infected u can try Albon boluses along with any or all the treaments i listed above most likely its irreverisible unless its localized in one claw most likely the outside claw in which case u can have a vet apputate the claw

Whoa sport! We've had to treat a number of cases where the infection ruptured right at the hair line. LA-200 in two treatments has alwasy cleared it up with no further problems. Maybe we've just been dumb lucky. After all, I'm not a hoof trimmer.

dun

 

[holistichoofcare]

O i totally agree with you can defiently reverse a situation where the infection has gone through the hair line BUT in this case its the amount of time she has been lame with the amount of antibiotics that she has recieved If the couglin joint becomes infected the likely hood of a full or partial recovery dramticaly decrease ive seen them turn around from time to time but i will say the odds are stacked against this cow if the infection has gone into the bone but your defienetly correct if caught early enough and the cow responds to antibiotics u can most definetly reverse the situation

 

[rainierhoof]

Have you had a trimmer look at her? It sounds like to me she could have an abcess. It would need to be pared away and blocked to heal.

 

[rainierhoof]

I finally found the pictures. That's an abcess, most likel;y in the toe that traveled up the inside and popped out the skin. It also looks like it is in the bone and 95% chance of not healing. It will calcify and be a club foot. Sorry.